59: Chapter 59 Could it be Yan Nantian?

"Don't think about making things up; we have a way to verify the truth."

"For example, by having him ask his two Masters."

Hearing this, Old Red Leaf's heart sank.

He had indeed planned to mix some falsehoods into the information. In his eyes, Xiao Yuer and Hua Wuchuan's behavior was truly detestable—wanting information without paying, and instead using his nominal nephew but actual son, Little Red Leaf, as a threat.

If he didn't take the opportunity to retaliate, wouldn't his years of experience be for nothing?

But Xiao Yuer said he had a way to verify the truth and even mentioned having Hua Wuchuan ask Yao Yue and Lian Xing.

This made Old Red Leaf a bit uncertain.

Because Yao Yue and Lian Xing were two of the people involved in the events back then, they naturally knew the whole story.

The fact that Xiao Yuer could mention them meant he must know something.

Faking it under these circumstances would likely backfire.

His son Little Red Leaf's life was still in their hands!

Thus, Old Red Leaf had no choice but to tell the truth.

In a short while, he finished telling the story.

Xiao Yuer compared it and found that the situation was largely the same as what Meng Li had said.

This indicated that the truth of those years was very likely exactly like this.

However, just in case, he still intended to seek further confirmation: "Where are the records of this matter?"

Seeing that things had reached this point, Old Red Leaf didn't bother with any more tricks. He stood up, rummaged through the place where the materials were stored, and brought out the relevant records.

Xiao Yuer took the materials and looked through them. He found that the content recorded within matched what Old Red Leaf had said. Furthermore, judging by the paper and ink, he could be certain that these records weren't recently made; they were at least several years old.

Now, he completely believed it.

Immediately after, as if thinking of something, Xiao Yuer turned and asked, "Do you know anything about Meng Li?"

"Meng Li?" Old Red Leaf looked puzzled.

He had some impression of the name, but couldn't quite recall it at the moment.

Little Red Leaf patted Hua Wuchuan's hand, and after he let go, he panted, "Are you talking about the son-in-law of the previous Wulin Alliance Leader, Tie Ruyun?"

Xiao Yuer nodded.

Little Red Leaf asked, puzzled, "Aren't you guys together? You should know him better than we do."

Xiao Yuer said, "That's a long story. Just tell me what you know about him."

With Little Red Leaf's prompt, Old Red Leaf immediately remembered Meng Li, but he couldn't help but frown.

Because the Red Leaf Pavilion really didn't have much information on Meng Li.

The Red Leaf Pavilion claimed to house the history of the entire Martial Forest for the past several hundred years. While this was an exaggeration, they did have several decades of history. However, so-called history only recorded famous figures and events; it was impossible to write about everyone. If that were the case, the ancients wouldn't have gone to such lengths to leave their names in history.

The obscure are nothing but dust in history, perhaps not even dust.

Meng Li wasn't quite that lacking in presence.

After all, the Meng Family he came from had some local fame, he himself was considered a member of the Jianghu, and he was connected to the former Wulin Alliance Leader, Tie Ruyun.

But that was all.

He liked to buy servants, write storybooks, tinker with medicines, and when he encountered bandits while traveling, he would kill them instead...

These things weren't considered special in the Jianghu, so they weren't worth paying attention to.

The reason Old Red Leaf had some impression of Meng Li was because he had recently married Tie Ruyun's daughter, Tie Xinlan, and had severely injured the Beggars Sect Leader with a single palm strike in the Gathering Hall.

Since there was nothing special, Old Red Leaf didn't bother hiding anything and told them everything he knew.

After listening, Xiao Yuer couldn't help but wonder.

Because the situation Old Red Leaf described was very different from the Meng Li in his impression.

It wasn't that the facts were inconsistent, but rather a feeling.

He felt that Meng Li was definitely not as ordinary as Old Red Leaf described, but he couldn't find where the problem lay for the moment.

At this time, Hua Wuchuan asked, "In your records, how is his Martial Arts?"

Old Red Leaf thought for a moment and replied, "Average."

"He had records of fighting before, but the Martial Arts he displayed weren't very strong, and he didn't know Tie Ruyun's family-inherited Raging Lion Iron Palm."

"This is inconsistent with his performance in the Gathering Hall. It suggests that after he married Tie Ruyun's daughter or became engaged to her, Tie Ruyun passed on the family Martial Arts to him—and not just the Raging Lion Iron Palm, but likely the Lionheart Skill as well."

"How does Tie Ruyun's Martial Arts compare to my Grand Master and Second Master?" Hua Wuchuan asked.

Old Red Leaf shook his head. "It's hard to say; they've never fought. Palace Mistresses Yao Yue and Lian Xing have been famous for many years, so their Martial Arts are naturally supreme. But Tie Ruyun also suppressed many heroes to become the Wulin Alliance Leader, so his Martial Arts certainly aren't lacking."

"With no record of them fighting, comparing them from afar makes it hard to determine who is superior."

"What about the great hero Yan Nantian?" It was Xiao Yuer who asked this.

Old Red Leaf thought seriously and replied, "That's also hard to say. Eighteen years ago, Yan Nantian was called the best in the world. At that time, the already famous Yao Yue and Lian Xing didn't come forward to dispute it, and Tie Ruyun had little fame. Thus, Yan Nantian should have been the strongest."

"But he mysteriously disappeared after that, and there's been no news to this day. It's not even clear if he's dead or alive, let alone the progress of his Martial Arts."

"In contrast, the other three—Yao Yue and Lian Xing's Martial Arts have become even more refined, and Tie Ruyun's reputation grew as he suppressed many heroes."

"So, speaking of the present, unless they have a fight, it's hard to say who is stronger or weaker."

"Where is Jiang Qin, who betrayed Jiang Feng and his wife back then?" Xiao Yuer asked.

Old Red Leaf's eyes flickered slightly as he replied, "I don't know."

"After he betrayed Jiang Feng, he vanished. Just like Yan Nantian, his whereabouts remain unknown."

After saying that, he asked, "Do you two have anything else?"

Xiao Yuer thought for a moment and found he didn't.

Neither did Hua Wuchuan.

Thus, Hua Wuchuan showed an apologetic expression and cupped his hands. "I offended you just now; please forgive me."

Xiao Yuer waved his hand and said, "We're leaving now. We'll come back if we need anything in the future."

After saying that, the two left directly.

"Uncle, are we just going to let this matter go?" After confirming the two had left, Little Red Leaf asked Old Red Leaf unwillingly.

Xiao Yuer had plotted against him before, taken the secret files of various Sect Heads from him, and just now used force to interrogate them for information.

With old and new grudges combined, Little Red Leaf's teeth itched with hatred.

Old Red Leaf's face was grim. "Of course not. Immediately have someone send a message to Jiang Biehe, saying that the other child has been found."

"Found?" Little Red Leaf was puzzled, then it clicked. "Xiao Yuer?"

Old Red Leaf nodded. "Judging by his performance just now, he is very likely the child taken away by Yan Nantian."

Little Red Leaf found it hard to believe. "But Yan Nantian is an upright hero. How could he raise such an unruly and wicked fellow?"

Old Red Leaf deduced, "It's very likely that something happened to Yan Nantian back then, and Xiao Yuer wasn't raised by him. This is just a guess; whether it's true remains to be verified. However, I suspect I'm right."

"Once it's confirmed, find a way to tell Yao Yue and Lian Xing about Hua Wuchuan investigating his background."

"This..." Little Red Leaf hesitated, then said, "Uncle, Yao Yue and Lian Xing are not to be trifled with. If they find out we told Hua Wuchuan about the past and ruined their years-long revenge plan, they will come for us."

"Then tell them Xiao Yuer's identity."

"At that time, they will surely be busy making the two brothers kill each other and might not have time for us."

"Besides, Hua Wuchuan and Xiao Yuer must have known something before coming here; they only came to verify it."

Little Red Leaf was startled. "They knew before coming? How did they know?"

"Regarding matters from over a decade ago, we searched our records for ages and still didn't have the full story. Who could have told them?"

"Could it be Yan Nantian?"